The present invention relates to a processing device and method for displaying a state of a tone generation apparatus, such as an electronic musical instrument or a tone or sound generator apparatus.
In the field of musical instruments, such as electric pianos and keyboards, there has been known a function called “dual” or “layer” for causing a plurality of timbres or sound colors (voices) to sound simultaneously in an overlapping fashion. When such a layer function is ON, a sound color of a main part and a sound color of a layer part are sounded simultaneously. Also known is a function for dividing a key range into left- and right-side key ranges to cause different sound colors to sound separately in the left- and right-side key ranges. According to the split function, a predetermined position is set as a split point, and a pitch (sound pitch) range higher than the split point is set as a right part (right-side key range) while a pitch range lower than the split point is set as a left part (left-side key range). If the right part is performed when the split function is ON, a tone of a sound color set for the right part is generated, while, if the left part is performed when the split function is ON, a tone of a sound color set for the left part is generated.
Further, in some of the conventionally-known electronic musical instruments having both the layer function and the split function, when the right part is performed with the split function ON and with the layer function turned on for the right part, tones having a sound color of the main part and a sound color of the layer part can be sounded simultaneously. In such electronic musical instruments, ON/OFF states of individual parts (e.g., main, layer and left parts), sound colors set for the individual parts and the like are displayed on a display screen, LEDs, etc. provided on a main panel of the body of the electronic musical instrument, so that various settings can be checked or ascertained even when no performance is actually executed (i.e., even when no sounds are actually generated). (See, for example, “Clavinova CVP-509/505/503/501 Instruction Manual”, Yamaha Corporation, available online from the Internet at <URL: http://www2.yamaha.co.jp/manual/pdf/emi/japan/cla/cvp509_ja_cm_d0.pdf>.
Further, in the electronic musical instruments, a user or human player may sometimes change and/or check settings in the middle of a performance, and thus, it is desired that the human player be capable of intuitively checking or ascertaining current settings. However, with the conventionally-known electronic musical instruments, settings of the individual parts are displayed together in a list, and thus, individual pieces of information tend to be small in size and thus difficult to read. Further, because pieces of information of all of the parts are always displayed on the display screen regardless of ON/OFF states of the individual parts, it is sometimes difficult to instantaneously see which sound colors will be sounded with the current settings. Furthermore, because there is no association between displayed positions on the display screen and actual generating positions of sounds (key ranges), it is difficult to intuitively grasp, from the display on the display screen, which sound colors will be sounded on which key ranges of a keyboard.